Network sites often include two or more edge devices to provide redundancy in the case of failure at one of the edge devices or a path containing the device. In order for a network to take advantage of the built in redundancy, traffic should quickly switch to an alternate path containing the redundant device. Redundancy with fast convergence provides increased network availability, which translates into higher productivity and possibly higher revenues and cost savings. As networks continue to grow with an increasing number of network sites, delays in identifying a failure and switching traffic to a backup path may reduce network availability.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.